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Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Archives

Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Archives exists to collect and preserve historical records relating to the City of Aberdeen and its locality and to secure significant modern records for future generations.

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Aberdeen's medieval burgh records recognised by UNESCO

An extraordinary collection of burgh records for Aberdeen held by Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Archives has been recognised by UNESCO.

The first eight volumes of Aberdeen burgh registers, which cover the period 1398  1509, will now be included in the UK Register of Important Documentary Heritage, part of the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme.

News and What's On...

New History Pin tour - Union Street shops
We've been working on creating a visual tour of shops on Union Street from the 1970s, and you can now see the results in our new
History Pin tour. Beginning with the Scotch Corner bar next to the Atheneum, the tour takes you down one side of Union Street before coming back up the other. Enjoy!

'Hard Vrocht Grun': Resources for Schools about the effect of the First World War on NE ScotlandAberdeenshire's Heritage Education Partnership has finished the first stage of its 'Hard Vrocht Grun' project by publishing a major resource to help secondary schools in Aberdeenshire explore the effect of the First World War on NE Scotland. You can find out more by visiting the
Hard Vrocht Grun resource.

Maps showing incidents recorded during World War Two
We have busy working on two maps showing where incidents were recorded during World War Two in both Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire. You can view both these maps on our special page,
World War Two Incidents.

More Militia Records Online!We're pleased to announce that more militia records have been made available, thanks to the hard work of our volunteers. The records relate to payments made to the wives of militia men, and includes their name and the number of children they had on a given date. To access them, go to our
Catalogues page and select number 19.

Baptism Registers - Indexes onlineWe have made available two indexes to registers of baptisms in St Nicholas parish in Aberdeen! They cover 1838 - 1848, and 1849 - 1850 and can be found through our
Catalogues page under number 25. Our huge thanks go to volunteer Christina Leech for the task of transcribing both the original volumes - with over 6,000 names contained in the volumes it was a lot of work!

Digitisation of pre-Reformation Council RegistersAberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Archives are pleased to announce that the first 25 volumes of Aberdeen's council registers, dating from 1398 to 1563, have been digitised by the National Records of Scotland (NRS).

These records form the backbone of the City's collections, and are not only oldest, but most complete council minutes in Scotland forming an almost continuous run from 1398 up to the present day. In collaboration with the NRS and the University of Aberdeen the digitisation of these records will widen access and awareness of this unique collection. In the long term, the aim is to provide transcriptions, translations, and contextual information for each entry. With over 16,000 pages to be digitised, the associated metadata, and a user-friendly and accessible site to be arranged, the project is still in the very early stages.

There has been little exploration into these records as a collection for over a century and this opportunity will open up the records to new research. For more information, please contact archives@aberdeencity.gov.uk

Want to see behind the scenes?Ever wanted to see behind the scenes of the archives? We can provide free evening tours of either of our offices, which will include a look round the various storerooms and an exhibition of original documents. All you have to do is get together in a group (minimum 10 people, maximum 25) and arrange a suitable time and date with us. While the tours are free, donations to support the work of the Archives service are always appreciated  contact us for further information by emailing archives@aberdeencity.gov.uk or telephone 01224 522513 or 01224 481775.

More Assessed Tax records transcribed!After a mammoth project, spanning a number of years and a huge effort from our volunteers, transcriptions of the Assessed Tax rolls for 1799-1800, 1809-1810, 1819-1820 and 1830-1831 are now available! Twelve volumes can be searched, covering a huge area of Aberdeenshire. Though they don't list everyone, they are still a really useful source for pre-census information. See our page showing the Assessed Taxes for the transcriptions. Happy hunting!

Historical Resource Packs for Primary Schools Available
The
Paper Treasures project, led by Aberdeenshire Council, was developed in order to show primary school pupils how to gather historical information from a number of available resources including Council Archives, Registrars' records and public libraries' local history departments. Situated on the
North East Folklore Archive website, the information available explores the different ways in which local historical sources can be used in education.

Help Required!We still need a bit of help with our
Education and School Records section on the website! The page is still a work in progress, so more information will be added in due course. It includes a map showing the location of schools across the North East but this is where we need your help! Click the link above to find out why...

Aberdeen City burial records available onDeceased Online!
Burial records for various cemeteries in Aberdeen, including St Nicholas Kirkyard, Nigg, St Peter's (including the Spital) and Trinity are now available to search on Deceased Online! Around 192,000 entries are available dating back to 1767. You can access these records for free in either of our searchrooms -
contact us for an appointment!